The U.S. government's E-filing initiative is designed to increase the number of filings (either required or for discretionary benefits) that may be accomplished via the Internet without benefit of an exchange of actual paper. This initiative falls under the broader rubric of E-Government—the latter being the sum of all the features available on-line through U.S. federal and state government websites. The Internal Revenue Service was among the first federal agencies in the United States to embrace e-filing on a large scale. Other present-day large government users of e-filing applications include: the U.S. Postal Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of State, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Homeland Security. Within the Department of Homeland Security, the component entity U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) currently processes most immigration applications and filings.
According to the 2007 Taubman Center for Public Policy (Brown University) E-Government report, 86 percent of federal and state websites now offer fully executable online services—up from 77 percent in 2006. The top five states for E-Government were: (1) Delaware, (2) Michigan, (3) Maine, (4) Kentucky, and (5) Tennessee. In the federal space, the Social Security Administration was ranked 4th out of 50 major federal agencies and departments, and the Department of Homeland Security was ranked 26th.
When it comes to filing immigration applications with the U.S. Government, the process may be very difficult and overwhelming. This is especially true with the recent changes the U.S. Government has made with the way immigration is handled. In June of 2002, the U.S. Congress received a request from the President of the United States to transfer the personnel and functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from the Department of Justice to the newly conceived Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On Mar. 1, 2003, the relevant changes to U.S. law took effect and INS personnel and functions were, in fact, transferred to DHS. Unlike earlier transfers of immigration powers, however, such as the collective movement of the immigration function from the Treasury Department to the Labor Department in 1913, and the movement from the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice in 1940, in this instance the entire organization hitherto for responsible for all U.S. immigration functions (the INS) was formally disbanded, and ceased to exist.
Similarly, not only were the personnel and functions of the U.S. Customs Service transferred to DHS in 2003, but the Customs Service itself was formally disbanded, and ceased to exist. Within DHS, there are now three separately organized and structured entities that have some responsibility for certain immigration functions. The function of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at DHS is to handle all U.S. immigration services and benefits, including citizenship, applications for permanent residence, non-immigrant applications, asylum, and refugee services.
USCIS is headed by a Director, who holds Undersecretary rank within DHS. U.S. immigration enforcement functions at the border, including inspection, are now handled by the DHS's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and interior enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, including detention and removal, are the responsibility of DHS's Bureau of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). CBP and ICE are headed by, respectively, an Assistant Secretary and a Commissioner (who also holds Assistant Secretary rank within DHS). Although USCIS is staffed in part, but not exclusively, by employees of the former INS, parts of the former U.S. Customs Service combined with the former Inspections Program of the INS, the former Plant Protection and Quarantine program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Border Patrol of the former INS to form US Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Protective Service, along with the investigative arms of the former U.S. Customs Service and the former INS combined to form US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, USCIS, CBP and ICE are not direct successor organizations to any prior organization within the U.S. government. In contrast, other DHS component entities such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Secret Service were transferred into DHS with their existing personnel, corporate charters, historical structures and organizational identities intact.
It is, therefore, evident that the process for navigating these different agencies and the forms required as well as the manner in which they should be answered and submitted is challenging. It is difficult for non-experts to navigate the multiplicity of forms and applications related to immigration petitions. Much like U.S. tax law, U.S. immigration law is lengthy, complex, and filled with apparent contradictions. Often, it is difficult to determine which applications would best be filed together, or sequentially, depending on individual circumstances.
Additionally, as in many areas of public policy, some recent state and local actions regarding immigration have been enacted in advance of federal requirements. In particular, many government entities below the federal level now require employers to check the immigration status of their employees. Current methods for doing so are inefficient and incomplete.
There is a need for a solution that addresses the above and other problems.